A boat carrying around 150 asylum seekers capsized in the Indian Ocean, spilling men, women and infants into rough waters and killing four people, Australian officials said on Wednesday.
The boat rolled over Tuesday in choppy seas 125km north of Christmas Island, Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare told reporters. The Australian island is 500km south of Jakarta, Indonesia.
Two navy ships had been sent to assist the vessel earlier in the day, but rescue crews were unable to board as waves reached as high as 4 meters (13 feet), said David Johnston, Commander of Australia’s Border Protection Command.
The navy ships instead began escorting the boat to Christmas Island, where Australia operates a detention camp for asylum seekers. Several hours into the journey, the boat started leaning and some passengers began jumping into the water. Shortly after, the boat rolled and capsized, Clare said. Officials don’t know what caused the boat to flip.
Rescuers dropped life rafts into the water and plucked 144 people to safety. The bodies of two women and two men were recovered before the search was called off Tuesday night.
The survivors, from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq, were taken to Christmas Island, along with three Indonesian crew members. There were several infants and children on board, Johnston said.
